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The Mil-series of helicopters stem from the design bureau of Mikhail Mil. Nearly all Soviet-era helicopters are from the Mil design bureau, except for the Kamov helicopters. The Mi-24 was the first purpose-built helicopter gunship in the Soviet military forces. Unlike the slimmer U.S.-made AH-1G Cobra, however, the Mi-24 was not designed solely as such; the Hind was larger due to a 6-to-8 man troop compartment in the lower fuselage, as it was meant both as troop transport and attack helicopter. The Hind has four main wing hardpoints along with two on the wingtips; a typical load consists of four large unguided rocket pods and a pair of wingtip double launch rails, each with two guided anti-tank missiles. NATO designated the production "Hind A", the pre-production "Hind B", and the unarmed trainer models "Hind C."

A Mi-24D "Hind D."

The Mi-24D, or Hind D, has a new cockpit design. The earlier Mi-24s had a squat, polygonal "greenhouse"-style cockpit with the gunner's front seat offset left and the pilot's rear seat offset right, but its extensive glazing provided poor crew protection. The Hind D cockpit, apart from the use of thick armor-glass canopies, adopted the in-line tandem configuration similar to U.S. attack helicopters. The Mi-24D has two cockpit "bubbles", with the pilot in the upper bubble and the gunner in the lower one, separate from each other. This also gives the Hind D access to either a 12.7mm or 23mm cannon, mounted under the chin of the Gunner's bubble. All existing Hind A, B, and C designs have since been superseded by the D or the later Mi-24V Hind E design.

All Hind helicopters pack armored cockpits for pilot and gunner, later models capable of absorbing anything up to 20mm cannon hits and thus offering protection from all but the heaviest anti-aircraft weapons.

A week later, during Operation Snake Eater, Hind As were also used to patrol the mountaintops, in addition to being used to transport Volgin's GRU troops. The Hinds were developed by Colonel Volgin at Groznyj Grad using the Philosophers' Legacy. Later, Snake encountered the helicopter while in the mountains while on the way to Groznyj Grad, which was sent by Volgin to patrol the area and send additional manpower in order to ensure that Snake doesn't arrive at Groznyj Grad.[2] Likewise, a Hind A underwent maintenance taking at least a day at Bolshaya Past's relay station before being dispatched to Krasnogorje.[3] A Hind A was also used to transport GRU reinforcements to Groznyj Grad when Snake and EVA were escaping on motorcycle, but was subsequently destroyed by Volgin's Shagohod. These gunships were presumably being used for field tests. In addition, Snake initially thought the Hind was the escape craft that EVA prepared, although she stated it wasn't, citing that its range was not enough to escape both Tselinoyarsk and the Soviet Union. The Tselinoyarsk Hind As were equipped with 12.7mm machine guns on the nose, as well as rocket pods and radio-guided anti-tank missiles on the wingtips.

In a radio conversation during Operation Snake Eater, this Russian gunship, and its later models, was first named the Hind by Snake, Sigint and Major Zero.

A squadron of Hind As were later deployed to the peninsula's assembly plant, where FOX soldiers attempted to stop Snake and his resistance forces from sabotaging the prototype Metal Gear RAXA. Three Hind As carried away the ICBMG from the plant, having prepared it for transportation while Snake was distracted by RAXA, with Gene following on board another.

CIA Station Chief Hot Coldman boarded a Hind D while the Chrysalis AI weapon airlifted Peace Walker's frame from Mt. Irazu to a secret mining facility. Shortly thereafter, Coldman, anticipating that Big Boss would attempt to track down the Mammal Pod and sabotage it, also heightened security by sending multiple Hind A choppers to patrol the area, along with the Chrysalis, and have scouts lurking about.[4] While traveling to the AI facility in the Costa Rican jungle of Central Heredia, Naked Snake (Big Boss) and the Militaires Sans Frontières were forced to neutralize a Hind A that spotted them on patrol. After Big Boss failed to dismantle the Mammal Pod at the AI Lab, the Hind D airlifted the Mammal Pod from the AI Lab to the Mine Base while Big Boss was regaining consciousness.

Mi-24D used by the Soviet faction of Peace Sentinel.

Coldman, along with Paz Ortega Andrade and Strangelove, later traveled on board the Hind D while accompanying the all-terrain Peace Walker AI weapon to a U.S. missile base in Nicaragua. It also briefly fired some rounds at Peace Walker after the latter underwent a severe glitch as a result of Big Boss damaging it. During his infiltration of the base's communications tower, the Hind D ambushed Snake, forcing him to fight it head on, along with Soviet infantrymen. All of the Peace Sentinel's Hinds were supplied by allied Soviet forces, led by KGB operative Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zadornov.[5] Throughout their mission, the Militaires Sans Frontières also managed to procure some Hind Ds and other war vehicles,[6] several of which were also given the custom colors of purple and yellow, the colors of the Militaires Sans Frontières. Big Boss later prepared to board a Hind D preparing to takeoff when discussing with Kazuhira Miller the need to operate outside of society, although not before telling Miller to assemble the men.

By 1975, the MSF has made further modifications to their Hind Ds, to such an extent that it only superficially resembled a Hind. The cockpits no longer had bubble-dome cockpits but a pair of trapezoidal cockpits similar to the Hind A. The nose mounted chaingun had been replaced by an undernose cannon on a rotary mount, the distinctive intakes above the cockpit had been replaced with side intakes and the entire fuselage had been streamlined. During several missions into Cuba, Big Boss utilized the Hinds for various missions, most notably retrieving an intel team agent. In addition, on March 16, 1975, because of a then-upcoming UN inspection at Mother Base that was implied to have been deployed by Cipher, as well as the added complications of Chico getting himself captured at Cuba in order to save Paz from a prison camp, Big Boss had a single Mi-24 on standby in order to retrieve him after he saved Chico and Paz, though it eventually headed into a collision course with an XOF chopper when, after evacuating the surviving MSF members (including Kazuhira Miller) from the doomed Mother Base during an XOF ambush, Paz jumped out of the chopper to save MSF from her detonation.

When Big Boss awoke from his coma in 1984, the Hind variant seen in 1975 was still in service, being used by the Red Army, the Diamond Dogs, and the multitude of mercenary companies operating around Afghanistan. While the Hind was the standard helicopter of the Red Army, the Diamond Dogs opted for a H60-type utility helicopter instead as their primary helicopter.

During the Outer Heaven Uprising in 1995, Solid Snake was attacked by Hind D helicopter shortly before parachuting from the rooftop onto the courtyard of Outer Heaven. The Hind had next to no movement besides the gunner's machine gun, which was a 20mm electric cannon capable of firing 4000 rounds per minute.[7] Snake was able to easily destroy the Hind by using a M79 grenade launcher to fire grenades into the cockpit of the Hind.

During the Zanzibar Land Disturbance in 1999, Solid Snake encountered yet another Hind D, which this time was much more fearsome than its predecessor. The Hind was able to take off before being engaged by Snake, so it had full access to its missiles and other weapons. However, Snake was able to ground the chopper using several Stinger missiles.

The Hind D helicopters used in Zanzibar Land were modified versions of the standard Hind D, correcting flaws in the original design and increasing its abilities and firepower. One of these was the manipulation of the rotor from the surface, one of the most fatal flaws of the gunships. The Hind D ZL is invulnerable to small firearms, and could also be equipped with boat-shaped hull, for balance of the wings, tail, and both sides of the cockpit, for use in amphibious operations. The Stinger missiles that Snake procured in Zanzibar Land were originally to have been fitted onto the Hinds.

The Gigant, a Zanzibar Land-developed airlift helicopter designed specifically for the transport of Metal Gear D, was also stated to have been derived from Hind D technology in addition to Sikorsky line of transport choppers.

Equipment:

Periscope sensor equipped to mast height (this allows the use of periscope attacks in dense environments such as jungles.

Liquid later demonstrated the gunship's prowess as a fearsome combat machine while battling Solid Snake, often maneuvering in often surprising positions and gunning. Liquid had to pilot the Hind on manual due to the blizzard nullifying the use of IR and nightvision equipment. Because of this, it also ended up being unaffected by chaff grenades. Liquid was also such a skilled pilot that he could fly the Hind from the weapons operator's seat; the pilot's seat was in the rear cockpit. However, just as in Zanzibar Land, Snake was able to destroy the gunship with Stinger missiles, and despite Liquid's best efforts in regaining control of the damaged chopper, the Hind eventually collapsed to the ground and crashed with a fireball to the sky, though Liquid survived the helicopter's destruction.

In Metal Gear, the Hind D was a boss but was removed and replaced by different boss characters Twin Shot in the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Metal Gear. In Metal Gear 2, the Hind D shares the same boss BGM theme ("Mechanic") as Metal Gear D, fought later in Metal Gear 2. In Metal Gear Solid, Liquid Snake pilots the Hind D from the gunner's seat (presumably done for cinematic reasons) to make him more visible in frontal shots of the helicopter, while in the remake, he was seen piloting in the pilot's cockpit instead of the weapons operator seat (although he still manages to fire missiles at Snake), and the Genome Soldier piloting the gunship with him was also omitted after the first Hind D cutscene. Also in the remake, similar to Metal Gear 2, the Hind D shares the same boss BGM theme as Metal Gear REX.

The earlier-designed Hind A model is encountered in Metal Gear Solid 3, patrolling the Krasnogorje Mountaintop, and attacking the player during the Alert phase. The helicopters used to transport the Shagohod early in the game, were originally intended to be Russian Kamovs, but the modeling team did not want to create an all-new helicopter model for the 15 seconds that they were to be shown, so they used the Hind A model instead. The existence of the Hind in Metal Gear Solid 3 and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is actually an anachronism since the Hind was not introduced until 1972. However, the former game implies that the Hind was created through the use of the Philosophers' Legacy, which was stolen late in the game.

If the player snipes at Groznyj Grad from the vista, behind the Krasnogorje Mountaintop Ruins, the base will go on alert and send a Hind A chopper to attack Snake. Even if the Hind A is destroyed, another one will take its place.

During cinematics and gameplay, there are numbers printed on the Hind As, implying that they follow either a unit number or the production number of the gunships themselves. Numbers on the gunships included 34, 98, and 3.

In Metal Gear Solid 4, the player can see the crashed Hind that was used by Liquid in Metal Gear Solid in the northeast section of the snowfield. Also, Hind As were seen in the Otselotovaya Khvatka PMC TV spot.

In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, various models can be fought during gameplay, with the player having the opportunity to capture them, for use by the Militaires Sans Frontières. Promotional spots for Peace Walker also had various vehicles in various areas, with a Hind D being seen travelling through Los Cantos's canyon along with various MBTK-70s and LAV-typeCs, although this along with other similar scenes were cut from the final game. In the last few minutes of the Tactical Espionage Operations trailer released shortly before Peace Walker's release in Japan, there were six Hind Ds owned by the Militaires Sans Frontières that were approaching Mother Base in a scene that was ultimately cut from the game.

Whenever the player encounters a Hind in Peace Walker, the player also has the option of either capturing it for MSF's hangar and use for Outer Ops, or destroying it. The sole exception is when the player has to fight a Hind D at the U.S. Missile Base, in which case the player cannot capture it, and thus the only option the player has in stopping the Hind D and continuing is shooting it down and destroying it. Also, the Hind D at the U.S. Missile Base did not have any pilots seen in the cockpit, although one was heard when launching weapons.

Hind D patrolling above Los Cantos in a scene in the trailers that was ultimately cut from the game.

If the player managed to bring an M47 Dragon to the U.S. Missile Base's heliport during the main story mission "Head to the Control Tower" and then used it on the Hind D, it will shoot it down upon impact, and Miller will then call in shortly after it crashes and say "Nice shot, Boss."

The Hind Ds were given four different designs in the game: The first was a grayish blue design that had a red fuel tank on each of its "wings" replacing one of the machinegun pods. This variety was used as the regular Hind Ds during the Vehicle Battles in Extra Ops as well as some of the cutscenes. The second was a brownish variety similar to Liquid's Hind D. These were used in the Hind D battle in the mission Head to the Control Tower. The third were colored primarily in black and red. These were used for the Custom Hind D battles. Finally, the last ones were colored purple with tints of yellow, used for the Hind Ds seen in the second ending.

On a related note, Peace Walker is the first game since Metal Gear Solid to feature Hinds as mandatory boss fights, as well as the first game, period, to use both the Hind A and Hind D varieties at the same time (not counting Metal Gear Solid 4, as the Hind D did not make a functional appearance outside of the wreck of Liquid's Hind, and the Hind A didn't appear in the game itself, but rather in the Clawing Ocelot commercial prior to starting the game).

In Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D - The Naked Sample, a Hind A was patrolling near Dolinovodno, with Snake hiding behind a tree. The Hind A then crossed over the bridge. After Snake was forced to jump the bridge due to being stung by various hornets, he held onto the ledge of the bridge right above the churning rotors of a Hind A below the bridge, and crawled away as the Hind went away from the bridge to continue patrolling the river, with a second Hind following it. While navigating a very narrow cliffline, three more Hind As arrived to patrol the ravine surrounding Dolinovodno before Snake attempted to evade a rockslide.

An MSF Hind, callsign Morpho, appears in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes when called in to extract the targets. Unlike Hinds in previous games, this particular Hind bears a greater resemblance to the later Mil Mi-28, which didn't have its first flight until 1982. The undernose cannon, tricycle landing gear, side air intakes, weapon pylons and overall shape all resemble those seen on the Mi-28.

Aside from the MSF's Hinds, another Hind was found grounded in the PS3/PS4-exclusive extra op mission Déjà Vu, and viewing it while two soldiers were standing in close proximity to it is necessary to completing the mission. Doing so will re-enact a scene from Metal Gear Solid. As such, it is the only mission of the seven where the characters cannot be extracted via Hind to complete the mission, although the player can summon the hind to remove the Peace Walker logo.

The Mi-24 configuration seen in Ground Zeroes returns as seen in the E3 2014 Trailer, being painted in the colors of and apparently used by the Russian military in Afghanistan alongside unknown tanks. In addition, they also showed the Mi-24D in a similar design to its real life design.

^Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2004).Depending on the player's actions, the Hind will either end up going to Krasnogorje, or be replaced by several flying platforms due to it being sabotaged with TNT.

^Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Kojima Productions (2010).Kazuhira Miller: Its not all good news, Snake. Coldman knows we're here. He's raised security in the area surrounding the lab. You'll be seeing a lot of those Chrysalis UAV - and a bunch of patrol choppers too and there may be scouts in the jungle lying in ambush. As you approach the lab, be extra vigilant.

^Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Kojima Productions (2010).Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zadornov: I brought the technology. You [Hot Coldman] provided the money and land. TSENTR alone could never have accomplished so much in so little time.